1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automatic servicer for tire building machines and, more particularly, to a continuous and automatic servicer for feeding, aligning and cutting breaker strip material to a breaker drum of a second stage tire building machine.
2. Description of the Background Art
Pneumatic tires of the bias type have been generally built commercially in a "flat band" and subsequently expanded to the toroid shape in a curing mold. While building such tires, the strip material including the tread strips are applied directly over a laminated carcass while in a flat band orientation.
Conversely, pneumatic tires of the radial type are generally built commercially by the "toroid" method. This method requires a first stage tire building machine for constructing the carcass in a flat band configuration and a second stage tire building machine for constructing the breaker and tread strips and applying them to the carcass. At the second stage machine, the carcass is supported on a first drum where it is expanded into a toroid shape. The tread and breaker strips are separately built on a second drum and then transferred onto the periphery of the supported carcass to form the green tire ready for vulcanization.
Various approaches to tire building machines and their components are disclosed in the literature. Note for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,795,563 to Enders; 3,841,941 to Leblond and 3,898,116 to Katagiri. All of these patents disclose surfaces with sheet-feed mechanisms for delivering material from a plurality of rolls to a processing drum. In addition, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,333,788 to Klose; 4,409,872 to Bertoldo; 4,457,802 to Yanagihara and 4,474,338 to Peramo all disclose sheet-feed mechanisms in a servicer for delivering cut sheets to a drum wherein the output end of the sheet-feed mechanism is movable to insure proper positioning of the leading of the sheet material onto the drum. Additionally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,647,126 to Dieterich and 3,993,530 to Henley disclose mechanisms for use in feeding sheet material on a tire machine servicer for insuring precise feed and alignment of the fed sheet material. Although many such advances are noteworthy to one extent or another, none achieves the objective of an effective, efficient and economical tire building machine which is continuous and automatic in its operation.
As illustrated by the great number of prior patents as well as commercial devices, efforts are continuously being made in an attempt to improve tire building machines and methods to render them more efficient, effective and economical. None of these previous efforts, however, provides the benefits attendant with the present invention. Additionally, prior tire building machines do not suggest the present inventive combination of method steps and component elements arranged and configured as disclosed and claimed herein. The present invention achieves its intended purposes, objects and advantages over the prior art devices through a new, useful and unobvious combination of component elements, with the use of minimum number of functioning parts, at a reasonable cost to manufacture, and by employing only readily available materials.
Therefore, it is an obJect of this invention to provide an improved servicer for conveying upper and lower breaker strip material onto a rotating cylindrical surface comprising upper and lower conveyors, each with an input end and output end, to sequentially feed the upper and lower breaker strip material along upper and lower paths of travel onto the rotating cylindrical surface; a roll of breaker strip material located in association with each conveyor at its input end; positioning means to sequentially move and pivot the output end of each conveyor between a first position in operative association with the rotating cylindrical surface and a second position remote therefrom; cutter means in each path of travel to cut the conveyed breaker strip material into strips of predetermined lengths; and drive means associated with the conveyors to move the cut breaker strips onto the rotating surface.
It is an additional object of the invention to continuously and automatically feed, align and cut material to a rotating breaker drum of a second stage tire building machine.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to build tires on a second stage tire building machine more efficiently, rapidly and economically.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.